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Research Journal Previous Years Articles

Invisible City: Wayfinding and Placemaking Through Augmented Reality

This paper examines the processes and outcomes of an educational project designed to explore new ways of thinking about experiential graphic design and interactive design. Through the pedagogical approaches of these two distinct disciplines, undergraduate design students unified user-generated content, social media, and virtualized reality not only as wayfinding and placemaking techniques, but as means to build a hidden, invisible city with its own shifting circulation paths, monuments and narratives weaving through the physical landscape.

An Integrated Approach to Workplace Safety and Wellness: Case Studies of Warehouse Communication System Design

Workplace safety is closely related to staff’s wellness, but they have been mostly approached as separate initiatives due to organizational conventions and operational constraints. Thanks to the rising awareness of health and wellness as well as advanced technology capabilities, corporate attempts are increasing for creating a safer work environment by monitoring employees’ physical and emotional conditions in relation to potential workplace hazards. This paper will present an integrated design approach to workplace safety and wellness based on the case studies of communication system design projects that explored digitally augmented warehouse work environments.

(re)Vision Cincinnati: Transforming Cities through Civic Engagement

This paper presents the framework and outcomes of two transformative projects aimed at developing strategies for re-envisioning Cincinnati’s urban and historic core. Through a unique collaboration between University of Cincinnati’s DAAP students, adjunct faculty, the community, and key civic stakeholders, the projects brought to light the possibilities for creating a best-in-class visitor experience and transforming a derelict urban district once celebrated as the center for Brewing in Cincinnati.

Interjection / Integration: Devising Charrettes and Critiques for EGD Classrooms

Charrettes and critiques can be devised specifically for experiential graphic design course goals and assignments in order to inform design process and final project outcomes in particular and unanticipated ways. For the purposes of this paper, charrette refers to a planned, intensive and timed experience that is strategically directed toward the investigation and solution of a specific design goal or objective. The term critique implies a group dialogue, analysis or assessment of work during a particular phase of design process. Diverse approaches to these considerations are explored and illustrated within this paper.

Social Engagement through Environmental Graphic Design: Design for Struggling Small Communities

Struggling downtowns and retail districts of small cities and towns have been completely overlooked by graphic designers, since these independent businesses often cannot afford, or aren’t aware of, the services of designers. In the graphic design department at Iowa State University, we see this problem as an excellent opportunity to engage our students in community-based design. For over 15 years, our senior graphic design students have been introduced to Environmental Graphic Design while working on the re-design of a downtown district--engaging with communities to reinvigorate their retail districts in efforts to enhance the quality of life for local residents.

The Total Package: An Interdisciplinary Approach to Package Design that Benefits Consumer Experience and Brand Perception

Communicating a brand message extends beyond the information and visual content applied to a package. The package’s physical structure, materials, finishes, and interactions can also strongly influence the consumer’s experience and subsequent perception of the product and brand. This paper presents case studies of integrated package design by students in Graphic and Industrial Design at the University of Cincinnati's College of Design, Architecture, Art and Planning. It reflects on the methods employed, lessons learned, and impact on future interdisciplinary collaborations in Package Design within education and practice.

Leveraging Customer Loyalty Data to Personalize the Service Experience in the In-Person Customer/Employee Context

Many national and international service companies (such as retail stores and hotels) operate loyalty programs that offer points and rewards. Loyalty programs collect information on individual customer, but the information never reaches customer service representatives who could use it to personalize service. This paper investigates if loyalty program data can be collected and fed back to customer-facing employees to provide value to customers and improve their perception of their own job performance.

The Interplay between People and Art

Street art emerges from the tensions and issues that face communities. It simultaneously reflects and confronts the viewer with the explicit intent to incite thought and action. Street artists work in spite of, and often on top of, space that has been monetized as they seek to present a counter-narrative to the mass-produced homogeneous corporate culture that has come to pervade many urban cityscapes.

Encouraging User Interaction through Signage Design

The new College of Design and Innovation at Tongji University in Shanghai forms a multi-functional complex for college students and teaching staff. Opened in 2014, it was designed as a platform for promoting opportunities for dialogue, fostering design thinking, and triggering interaction between users and the environment. As part of the building design, a new signage program was developed and prototypes were utilized to test and encourage interaction with the signage design process.

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